Cigarette Burns
by NathaliePUribe
Summary: Bella is a local junkie and Edward is a famous artist. He meets Bella outside of one of his art shows and she ends up going home with him.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Vote for Till the End and Lightning Snatcher- link on my profile!** I lost two people to cancer in the last week. It was really painful. I mean gosh, it was right after I wrote the last chapter and really got excited about this story. God likes to pick on me sometimes. I went to Stephen's funeral today. He was a twelve year old boy. There were over 100 people there and it was just seriously the most painful thing- ever. I don't know how I survived.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Twilight_.

"The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret."  
>-unknown<p>

**I Live in a State of Denial**

"Oh Ms. Ice cream girl, you missed a spot." Emmett called at me from table one.

I grabbed my dirty wash cloth and bottle of cleaner before I stomped over to where Emmett and Edward were sitting. Emmett was holding his ice cream cone on its side so drips of chocolate ice cream fell onto the table.

I grabbed his wrist and twisted it so his ice cream cone was facing the right way again before I ran the damp cloth over the table. I was contemplating whether or not I wanted to smack him over the head but I figured it would cause more damage to me than it would to him.

The ice cream parlor was empty besides the four of us. Angela, the other employee that was supposed to work with me today, wouldn't be here until noon and the owner didn't feel like coming in today. So, I took advantage of this rare opportunity and let Jake come inside so he could sit with Edward and Emmett while they waited for Alice to pick him up.

"What time do you two have to go to work?" I asked glancing at my watch.

It was getting close to noon and I was afraid that if they stayed with me too much longer they would be late for their jobs. Working at a hospital was different than working at an ice cream parlor. If I was late a few kids will get impatient and start to scream at their moms. If they're late people will die.

"I don't know." Emmett shrugged. "We're already late, so I guess whenever we get there."

I frowned. "Aren't you worried that they'll fire you?"

"They won't fire us." Emmett cleared my conscious. "We're the best doctors they have."

For some reason hearing Emmett say that they were the best doctors at the hospital made my stomach turn. It meant that Edward could tell when someone was sick. And I was accident prone! I had a tendency to accidently cause harm to my body- which meant that Edward would easily pick up that there was something wrong with me.

"Our dad is also chief of medicine." Edward added. "Besides, Emmett called in and told them that we were going to be late."

"I called the hospital?" Emmett asked raising an eyebrow.

My head shot towards him and my eyes widened. "You didn't call the hospital?" My voice was louder than I wanted it to be.

"I was kidding." Emmett raised his hands in defense. "Take a joke Bella." He started to laugh.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and my shoulders slumped. I didn't know why I was so anxious about them getting to the hospital on time. I wasn't a fan of hospitals. They smelled funny and liked to give people bad news. Good news rarely came out of hospitals.

"What the hell?" Edward screamed.

Emmett started to laugh.

I looked at Edward. Jake had put his front paws on the table and was licking Edward's ice cream. Edward was staring at him with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. It took all my will power not to laugh with Emmett. I forgot to warn him that Jake liked to steal ice cream from people.

"Jake." I slapped my hands in front of his face. "Down."

Jake looked at me as he continued to lick the ice cream. He made no movement to get off the table. I rolled my eyes and walked around Edward so I could get Jake off the table.

My fingers wrapped around Jake's collar and I pulled on him. He didn't even flinch. In fact, he forced himself to get even close to Edward. His head started to turn on the side as he nibbled on the cone.

"C'mon Jake." I growled at him as I tried to pull him away from Edward's ice cream cone again. It didn't work. He just opened his jaw and clamped it shut around the cone before jumping off the table to the floor so he could finish the rest of it.

When Jake jumped to the floor I lost my balance and accidently ran into the table behind me. The lower part of my back hit the side of the table. I hissed in pain and grabbed onto my back.

"Ouch." I whimpered. That would leave a bruise. A huge bruise.

"Damn Bella." Emmett laughed. "You're weak."

"Are you ok?" Edward asked getting to his feet.

Jake, who was licking the ice cream off the floor no more than a few feet away from me, looked at Edward and let out a low growl. I rolled my eyes and slapped him on the back of his head. He looked at me before going back to licking the ice cream on the floor, his eyes were on Edward.

"I'm fine." I promised Edward. "I just hit my back on the side of the table."

"Do you want to sit down?" Edward grabbed my shoulder and started to guide me to the chair he was sitting in.

"I'm okay!" I told him quickly and stepped out of his grip. "Do you want to me to get you another ice cream cone, to make up for the one that Jake ate?

Edward shook his head. "No I'm fine." His lips pursed and he looked like he wanted to say something else.

"I'm really sorry about Jake." I apologized again, hoping that I could keep the subject off of me and my aching back. "It really would be no problem to get you another ice cream cone."

"No, I'm okay." Edward smiled at me.

"Are you sure? It really wouldn't be that hard." I felt guilty that Jake didn't like him and ate his ice cream cone. Besides, my boss gave me free ice cream all the time.

"I'm fine Bella." Edward promised.

"I would like to say he's not usually like this but he's a fiend when it comes to vanilla ice cream. That's one of the reasons that my boss doesn't like him inside here. He usually stalks little children until they let him have their ice cream cones." I explained why Jake would want Edward's ice cream.

"I'll make sure to warn Alice." Edward smiled at me.

I smiled back. He had a really nice smile.

"Warn me about what?" A high voice asked from the door that led to the parlor.

I turned around to see a very short girl walk into the parlor. She had short black hair that she spiked up at all angles and there were black sun glasses that covered the upper part of her face.

"Jake likes vanilla ice cream." Emmett answered her question before he stuffed the rest of his ice cream cone into his mouth.

"Really?" Alice's voice squeaked from excitement and a smile formed on her face. "Awe that's so cute. Where is Jake?" She looked at Edward and me.

"Licking Edward's ice cream." I admitted, blushing.

"Awe." She put her hands over her mouth and walked further into the parlor, heading to where Edward and I were standing.

I looked at Edward. He was rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.

I was really starting to like Alice. Unlike Emmett she didn't freak out and call me a prostitute! And she looked like the type of person that would understand that Jake is more than a dog. Jake was my family and had feelings just like any other person.

"He's a cutie." Alice kneeled in front of Jake. Her small hands went behind his ears and started to rub them.

Jake didn't lift his head from the tile floor.

"Be careful, he snaps." Edward warned her.

Jake twisted his head into her head but didn't stop licking the floor. Alice giggled.

"He only growls at Edward." I corrected Edward's statement as I scratched Jake's back. "He likes everyone but him."

Alice laughed and turned to Edward. "Poor Edward."

"I'll get over it." Edward shrugged.

I smiled at him before turning to Alice. "I'm Bella." I lifted my hand from Jake's back and handed it to her.

"Alice." She smiled back at me as she removed her hand from behind Jake's ear so she could grab my hand.. I was surprised her small fingers could wrap around my fingers. "I see you all the time here and I never really introduced myself. I'm sorry. The kids keep my hands full."

"That's okay." I started to scratch Jake's back again. "They keep my hands full to."

Alice grinned at me before jumping to her feet. Her hands slapped her thighs as she looked at her adoptive brothers. "Alright you two," her voice was surprisingly demanding for someone so small, "get the heck out of here." Her finger pointed towards the door. "People are dying and they need doctors- unfortunately all they have are you two but I guess that's better than nothing."

"You're just cranky because another mother thought you were one of the kids again." Emmett shot back at her.

"This is coming from a guy that got molested by a-"

"Stop it you two." Edward played the mediator.

I was kind of disappointed. I wanted to hear what Alice had to say about Emmett- maybe I could use it later if he made another joke about me being a prostitute.

"But she's right Emmett. We do need to get going." Edward looked at his watch before looking at me. "What time do you get off work?"

"I think I have to close." I frowned.

"When is that?" Edward asked.

"We close at ten but I won't be off until ten-thirty. Angela and I have to clean up the parlor." I explained.

"Who wants ice cream at nine o'clock at night?" Emmett asked.

"Not many people." I admitted looking at him. "But we don't really get many customers to begin with. Most of our business comes from the daycare." I looked Alice.

"What can I say?" She shrugged. "Kids love their ice cream." She smiled at me.

"I'll make sure to be here by ten then." Edward grabbed my shoulder and pulled me towards him. I twisted my head to the side and he gave me a kiss on the cheek.

I blushed and bit my bottom lip. "Ten it is." I nodded when he pulled away.

"Don't run into anymore tables." Edward ordered.

"I'll try not to." I promised.

"Ready to go?" He looked at Emmett.

"Let's go save lives." Emmett slammed his hands onto the table as he got off his chair and followed Edward to the door. "See yah later Bells. Bye Jake." He gave us a quick wave before following Edward out the door.

"So, you're married to Edward." Alice made sure the boys were out ear shot before she said this.

I closed my eyes and let my shoulders slump. I was hoping that we didn't have to have this conversation. I liked it better when she was excited to meet Jake and making fun of Emmett.

I nodded as I waited for the screaming to start. I was preparing myself for the name calling and the "how could you do that to my brother" speech. I didn't know Alice very well. I just knew what Edward told me about her and what I gathered from her random trips to the ice cream parlor. She didn't sound like a mean person but everyone has their moments.

"That's got to be fun." She smiled at me.

I blinked. "You're not mad?" I frowned at her. I was so used to people screaming at us that I wasn't expecting someone to be okay with it.

Alice shook her head as she knelt in front of Jake, who was cleaning up the floor for me, and started to scratch his ears. "Not really." She admitted. "I'm more shocked than angry. You two are adults- whatever happened is between you two. Though I am surprised you haven't demanded a divorce yet." She looked up at me. "Do you want to explain why?"

I knelt next to her and sighed as I started to scratch Jake's neck. "Because it makes me feel like I'm in the movies." I admitted as I focused my attention to scratching Jake's neck. "And I figured if I hope long enough, I might get a fairytale ending."

"At least you're honest." Alice didn't push the subject any further as she jumped to her feet. "Is there anything I need to know about Jake?" She asked.

I looked up at her and furrowed my eyebrows as I thought of something that she might need to know. "If he gets too excited just rub his stomach- that usually calms him down." I frowned as I thought of something else. Nothing came to mind.

"He doesn't bite or anything, right?" Alice asked.

I shook my head. "Like I said, he likes everyone…except Edward."

Alice giggled. "Edward's more of a cat person anyways."

"Oh! Jake doesn't like cats either." I added quickly in case the day care kept a pet cat- which honestly wouldn't surprise me if they did.

Alice laughed. "You and Edward are going to make an interesting couple." She shook her head.

"Are you okay with me being married to your brother?" I frowned at her.

"Trust me. If I had a problem with it, you would know." Alice smiled at me. "Besides, everyone deserves their fairy tale ending."

"How do you know it won't end in some blockbuster horror movie?" I frowned at her.

"I'm Alice. I know everything." She tapped her head.

I continued to frown at her. As much as I would have liked to believe her, I couldn't. Edward was right, this isn't a movie, this was real life and in real life people didn't get a fairy tale ending. But it was still comforting to know that Alice believed that I would have a fairytale ending with Edward. Even if the odds of it were a gazillion to one.

"C'mon Jake." She patted her leg. "Let's go see the kids."

"Thanks Alice." I smiled at her at her as I got my feet. "You really don't have do this."

"It's no problem Bella." She smiled back at me. "Oh and Angela is about to call- she's running a little late."

"Why did Angela call you before she called me?" I frowned at her.

"She didn't." Alice's smile didn't fade as she opened the door. "Bye Bella." She waved her hand at me and left to go across the street to the day care.

I frowned at her. I could understand her saying that Edward and I would have a fairytale ending but there was no way that she could predict Angela calling me to tell me that she was running-

As soon as the door closed, the phone rang. My jaw dropped and my eyebrows furrowed. I walked quickly to the cash register where we kept the phone to the store. I picked it up and pressed it to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey Bella." It was Angela. "I'm running a little late. I'm sorry. Can you manage the parlor without me?"

"Yeah." My voice sounded distant. "Sure."

How did Alice do that? I had never seen anyone predict anything like that before and I was pretty sure that Angela and Alice weren't close enough for Angela to call Alice before she would call me. So that left only one explanation. Edward's sister was a psychic.

"Bella," Angela yelled at me.

"Yeah." My voice sounded less distant and I focused my attention on Angela.

"Where were you yesterday?" Angela asked. "You weren't at work. I got worried. You weren't at the-"

"No." I interrupted her. "I went to Jessica's bachelorette party the night before and I guess I drank too much."

"Thank God." Angela sighed. "You scared me. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded- it was more out of habit than necessity. "I accidently ran into one of the tables at the parlor and I think I bruised my back but other than that, I'm okay."

"Do you want me to look at it when I get there?" She sounded concerned.

I loved Angela. She was genuinely concerned about my health and was always making sure I was doing okay.

"No," I shook my head- again out of habit. "I'm okay. I promise."

"If you say so." Angela didn't sound convinced. "I'll be there in less than fifteen minutes. I promise."

"Okay." I tried to make my voice happy. "I'll see you in a little bit."

"See you in a little bit." Angela hanged up the phone.

I pressed the dial button and started press the familiar numbers. There was no one in the parlor and there was nothing that I needed to take care of right at this minute _and_ since I was right by the phone- I decided to give Charlie a call. He deserved an explanation and it would be easier for me to tell it to him over the phone than in person.

"Hello?" Charlie asked.

"Hi dad." I smiled so my voice would seem happier than I felt.

"Bella?" Charlie asked. "Is everything okay?" His voice was lace with the same concern Angela had.

"I'm fine." I nodded- again to try and make me sounded happy. "Angela isn't at work yet and we're having a slow day, so I'd give you a call. Since I owe you an explanation and all."

Charlie was quiet. "An explanation would be nice." His voice was stern.

"Are you at the station?" I asked. If he was at the station, chances were he would be sitting down. He needed to be sitting down for this.

"Yes." He sounded impatient.

"So," I held out the word 'so.' "I went to Jessica's party and I had a few drinks-"

"Bella do you realize how stupid that is?" Charlie screamed at me. "What about all the-"

"Dad!" I interrupted him. "Do you want to know what happened or not?"

Charlie went silent. "Go on." He ordered.

I took a deep breath. "So I was at Jessica's party…"

**End Chapter.**

**A/N:** Foreshadowing all over this chapter. Gosh. Almost everything in this chapter is foreshadowing something important. Seriously, if anyone can guess it- I will give you a cookie. It has to be exact though, you have to have it down to a "t". If you can do that- I will seriously give you a cookie. There's something that is obvious that I'm foreshadowing but I want to know the other thing that I'm foreshadowing- the one that isn't so obvious. If I reply to your review with "you got a cookie" than you know you're right. If I don't reply, then better luck next time. Also! Please get me to 1400! I would love you forever and always! :D

Vote for Lightning Snatcher and To the End- link on my profile!

In loving memory to Stephen Whitlow and Annette Kasparian.


	2. Chapter 2

"I don't set out to offend or shock, but I also don't do anything to avoid it."  
>-Sarah Silverman<p>

**The Beautiful Disaster**

I stared at Bella as she ran around my house like a little kid in the candy store. She stared at my paintings and photographs with wide eyes, making low "ohs" and "awes." I smiled at her as I set my keys on the counter top. I decided to let her have her fun, while I went to the kitchen and made us something for dinner. I wasn't use to cooking for anyone but myself so I decided to make Hamburger Helper.

I was measuring the milk in a plastic measuring cup when Bella walked in the kitchen her eyes still wide. "Your house is fucking huge." Her voice was light with awe. I smiled as I adjusted the temperature on the gas stove. "I mean it's bigger than all the apartments I've ever been in- _combined_!" She didn't stand still as she said this.

"Carlisle picked it out for me," I said as I threw the trash away into a trash can at the end of the counter. I wasn't usually this clean but being in a presence of a lady, I wanted to give out the good impression. "Are you hungry?" I asked when I got back to the stove.

She nodded. "I'm starving."

I looked at her. "I'm not the greatest cook in the world," I admitted, blushing.

"As long as it's edible," she smiled.

"If you want, you can take a shower while I cook. I'll lie out some clean clothes for you." I was trying to sound polite. I didn't want her to think that the only reason I wanted her to take a shower is because every time I breathed through my nose, my eyes watered.

"A shower sounds great."

I stepped out of the shower, as Edward promised there were fresh clothes laid out on the corner of the counter that held the sink. I wrapped the white towel around my chest and dried my hair with another one. I stood in front of the mirror and wiped the steam it with my hand. When I could see my reflection, I lifted my chin so I could stare at the bruises on my neck. They were turning a green almost brown colour. I sighed and ran a finger over it, flinching slightly when I pressed too hard on a sensitive part.

It was healing. That's all that mattered. I rolled my eyes until I was looking at the floor. I skimmed over the white carpet till I found what I was looking for.

I bent over and grabbed my bra off the floor. I held it so I was staring inside of the right cup. I had sewn in a little pocket on the inside the cups so I could hide my drugs in it. I pulled out a small bag of coke and the two pennies that I hid with it. I rubbed the two pennies against the bag, scratching up the coke against each other; it's a trick I picked up. It works whenever you don't have a razor. When I was sure I was going to break up as much as I could, I dropped the contents of the bag onto the countertop.

I moved the coke into a line with my finger, careful to pick up every piece. Most people snorted it out of the bag, when they didn't have a razor, but I sucked at snorting out of bags, practice doesn't always make perfect. When I was content with the line, I ran my finger over my gums and teeth. The numbness kicked instantly. I ran my tongue over my numb gums.

I stared at the line, it was huge! I didn't realize how much I was taking from Mike when I was cutting up the rock earlier today. I smiled to myself as I pulled out a tampon from my pocket. I leaned over the line and pushed the tampon into my nose. I sniffed, holding the tampon in my right nostril, my finger on my left. The coke flew into my nose and I could feel it mix into my blood stream.

Each dealer has a special way of making coke. My old dealer use to put baby laxatives in it, after fifteen minutes you had to take a really bad dump that's how you knew it was his. I stopped going to him when he pulled a gun out on one of my friends.

My friend apparently jizzed him on weed, he paid for a twenty and he got fifteen. He got mad and pulled the gun on him. At first I was angry, but then I realized that it was Black Widow and understood where he was coming from. I stopped going to him out of respect for my friend, besides there were other places I could get coke from.

When I was finished with the line, I licked the counter top. Then I went to the bag. I flipped it inside out and ran it over my gums and tongue until I was sure it was empty. I flushed it down the toilet with my used tampon after I was finished.

I looked at myself in the mirror again. My pupils were dilated. I laughed to myself as I started to scratch my arms. My whole body was numb. I closed my eyes and leaned against the counter top. My fingers dug into the side.

Someone knocked on the door. I jumped. The paranoia was kicking in.

"Are you ok?" Edward's voice came from behind the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I yelled at him. I never felt so good before in my life, even though my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. "What do you want me to do with my dirty clothes?" I asked.

"I'll take them," he said.

I bent down and grabbed them. I pulled out my cigarettes and his lighter from the back pocket of my jeans. I threw the lighter behind the sink and set my cigarettes on the counter top of the sink. I opened the door and handed my dirty clothes to him.

"Here you go," I said, smiling.

He blushed. I frowned, just now noticing that my bra and panties were on top.

"Are you ok?" he asked, looking at the floor of his bathroom.

"Just fine," I said over the sound of my pounding heart. I felt like I could run a marathon. I was feeling fucking great.

Edward gave me another look before heading out of the bathroom. I closed the door behind him and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked just like I did two seconds ago when I lasted looked in it. My pupils were still dilated and I still had bruises running up my neck.

My body gave a nervous jolt as I put on Edward's clothes. He left out over sized boxers and white wife beater. You could see every cut, bruise, scratch, and cigarette burn on my arms. I rubbed my arms, self consciously.

I grabbed my cigarettes and his lighter behind the sink. I hid the lighter in the waistband of his shorts. The shirt was loose enough so he wouldn't notice that there was a bulge there. I just had to hope that it didn't slip and fall to the floor while I was walking.

I opened the door and headed towards the kitchen. I scratched my arms nervously as I walked up to him. The food was done, he handed me a blue bowl filled with meat and noodles drowned in cheese sauce. I wasn't hungry anymore but I didn't want to be rude, so I forced myself to eat.

I sat on the table next to him, he blew onto his food before taking a bite out of it. I did the same. It's weird eating while high on coke, your whole body is numb and you can't taste anything. It's like coming back from the dentist's office.

"It's not that bad, is it?" Edward asked, obviously embarrassed by his culinary skills.

I looked up at him and shook my head. "No, it's great! I'm just not as hungry as I thought I was." I sniffed and rubbed my nose.

We finished dinner in silence. Every now and then one of us would ask each other a question. It was uncomfortable and awkward, most of the time the only thing that I could hear was the sound of my heart beating against my chest.

"Do you mind?" I asked, holding up my pack of cigarettes.

He shook his head.

I got up from my chair and grabbed both of our bowls. He was finished with his and I was half way done with mine. I pushed the leftovers into the skillet and ran the bowls under the water. I always had a tendency to clean when I'm skitzing. Whenever I'm at a friend's house and we do coke (or meth) their house is usually spotless by the time I'm coming off.

I walked over to the gas stove, my hand was shaking. I turned the knob. A loud ticking noise echoed throughout the kitchen before it caught on fire. I put the cigarette to the flame and breathed in deeply. My body started to relax, but my heart still raced. Edward walked up next to me.

"Are you sure you're ok?" He asked, checking my forehead. I flinched, which made him frown. His hands were cold.

I nodded. "Never felt better," I smiled.

"You look like you're about to throw up." He frowned.

I shook my head. "I'm just tired. That's all," I lied.

"Do you want me to show you to your room?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, I'll stay on the couch." He already gave me a place to stay, a hot shower, clean clothes, and food. I wasn't going to push my luck with a room to, besides, I wasn't really tired and he had a big screen TV.

"Don't worry about it. I have an extra guest bedroom that I never get to use," he persisted.

"Cool," I tried to sound enthusiastic, but I really wanted to watch his big screen TV.

She was gone. She left without even leaving a note. The house was clean, everything was spotless. I'd never seen a cleaner house, even when I lived with my adoptive mom, Esme. Nothing was stolen; my clothes lied neatly on the counter top. She even left me the lighter that she took from me when she thought I wasn't looking.

My cell phone vibrated. I groaned when I saw the caller ID.

"What Emmett?" I said, monotone.

"How was it?" he asked. He was never the one for small talk.

"Nothing happened," I said already getting a headache. "I took her home, made her dinner, she took shower, _alone_, we ate dinner, we went to bed, she got up early, cleaned my house, then left."

"She cleaned your house?" Emmett asked. He sounded just as shocked as I was.

"Yeah, she even did the dishes," I said running my fingers over my clean countertop.

"Send her over to my house, Rose has been yelling at me to do the dishes for months now."

I laughed.

"Esme wanted me to tell you that people from the _Smithsonian_ will be at your house later today and that you should clean up. But I guess you don't have to," he laughed.

"I guess not," I grumbled into the phone. "Hey, I think I'm going back to bed can I call you back later?" I asked, trying to come up with an excuse not to talk to him.

"Sure, lover boy."

"Meth or heroin?" Tyler asked as I got into his car.

"I don't know," I yawned.

I was exhausted. I had insomnia. I got bored and cleaned Edward's house. I even hand washed his boxers because I was so bored. I thought about making him breakfast, but I called Tyler instead and asked him to pick me up.

"Well do you want to sleep or skitz some more?" he asked, taking a left hand turn.

"Meth it is," I said.

Tyler smiled. "That's my little drug addict," he joked.

"Same guy?" I asked. I always did meth with Tyler. He was the guy to go to when you wanted the hard stuff like meth and heroin.

He shook his head. "There's a new guy that I want you to meet."

I nodded. I was always up to trying new dealers. I was the test dummy of the group. One time I ate a mushroom that could have very well have been poison, because we thought that it was shrooms. It looked like it but it didn't make me trip, I ended up vomiting it up half an hour later. I was in the hospital for a good percent of that night.

He dropped me off at a two story house. I smiled. It was Lauren's house, we weren't real good friends, but I was glad that I was a house that I knew. Her mom didn't know about her doing drugs, but we still did them in her house. I closed the door to Tyler's car and put my hands into my hoodie pocket. Tyler smiled down at me before walking beside me to Lauren's house.

Two men walked out of the house. They were both around my height, one had a shaved head the other had long brown hair hidden under a baseball cap. They smiled at Tyler and me. I kept my face straight. The one with the shave head tossed Tyler a bag. We stopped and I stared at it. My mouth dropped. It was a sandwich bag filled with weed. Tyler smiled and looked back up at the men.

The one with the long brown hair nodded for Tyler to follow him inside. I looked back up at Tyler. He was already walking to the guy in the baseball cap; he didn't even say anything to me. I wanted to follow after him, but I had a feeling I wasn't invited. He left me alone with the guy with the shave head. I guess this was the dude that was going to sell me the meth.

"What's your name?" he asked, walking towards me.

"Bella," I said braver than I felt. I didn't like this guy.

"I'm Snow." He held out his hand. I didn't shake it.

Snow was the most dangerous drug dealer in Washington. He was a hot target for the cops; anyone that was caught associating with him was automatically set at the top of their hot list. I never had the pleasure of meeting Snow- I never wanted the pleasure. The thought of him even being near me made me want to run away and say screw this, but I wasn't about to embarrass myself in front of anyone, I wasn't a coward.

He pulled his hand away. "Do you mind going on the side of the house. Lauren's mom kicked me out and I don't like being out in the middle of the street, you know cops and all."

He smiled. Most of his teeth were chipped or missing. It was obvious that he spent a lot of time doing meth. I nodded before following him to the side of the house. He scared me and I didn't want to piss him off.

"So tell me about yourself," he said sitting on the side of the house in the grass.

I sat next to him. "There's nothing much to say," I mumbled.

He put his hand on my knee. "Ever date a nigger before?" He asked.

I gave him a disgusted look and moved my knee away from him. "You're sick." I yelled. He was a skin head, a stupid wannabe skin head. I should have known. "No, I've never dated a black person before. I haven't dated anyone before." I mumbled. "And I wish you wouldn't call them niggers!" No matter how much he scared me I wasn't about to hear him disgrace a race, that pissed me off more than anything else.

He laughed. "You think you're hard don't you?" he asked, crawling to his knees.

"I don't think anything. I'm not trying to be hard; I just don't want to hear you insult a race of people." I screamed at him. I made no movement to get up.

Snow laughed. "You got a mouth on you, don't you?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. "So Tyler tells me that you're into meth…" He trailed off before reaching into his pocket, my eyes widened and I smiled.

"How much?" I asked, forgetting about the fact that I had _no_ money.

He smiled at me. "You can pay it off later."

I thought about that for a second, but I didn't care. What was a few dollars gone later for meth now? "Do you have anything I can snort this with?" I asked, reaching for the paper. He pulled out his wallet. I rolled my eyes and went back to staring at the crystal coloured powder.

I opened the paper and laid it on the grass. There was a good amount of meth, about thirty dollars worth. Snow handed me a rolled up dollar bill. I leaned over the paper. I used my left nostril to snort meth; my right was dedicated to coke. I sniffed it up loudly; I could see Snow smiling beside me.

I pushed up on my bridge of my nose. I was hit with adrenaline. My blood rushed through my veins. My pupils dilated. And I felt great.

Snow moved his hand to my inner thigh. I frowned. His tongue licked my neck. I leaned away from him and tried to push him off of me. He grabbed my wrist and held them to my side. He moved closer. He caught my lips with his and made me kiss him. My eyes were open and wide. I tried to pull my wrist out of his hands. He moved his knees so he was straddling me, his lips never left mine. He finally pulled away.

"You said I could pay you back!" I screamed.

He smiled. "You are."

**End Chapter.**

My family reads the reviews, so please, be nice...

Jo

BTW: If you apart of , head over to the "all human" section. Cigarette Burns has its own thread.

I know that this was posted on Bronzehairedgirl620's profile, but we both decided that it would be better to post it on Stephanie's profile, since it is her story. This is the original Cigarette Burns. Make sure to review.

"Drugs have taught an entire generation of American kids the metric system."  
>-P.J O'Rourke<p>

**Cigarette Burns**

"Stop hovering over me!" I yelled at Mike as I cut the rock of coke.

"Let me do it." Mike reached for the razor in my hands.

"Move your hand another inch and I slice off a finger," I snapped as I raised my razor in the air, warningly. He pulled back his hand. "Besides, last time someone else cut up the coke, they didn't cut it fine enough and I got a rock stuck in my nostril. Now shut up or you get shit."

He sat back on the couch and lit a cigarette. My hands were shaking with anticipation as I continued to cut the coke. Coke, or cocaine, was my drug of choice, everything else was nice, but nothing tasted as sweet as the numbness you get from coke. The minute it hits your veins its like adrenaline rush, nothing else feels like it. Not even meth can match up to what coke does to you.

A small piece fell onto the side of the table near me. I fought the urge to lick it, wanting just a teaser of what was about to come. I looked at Mike; he was staring at me with hawk eyes. I sighed and pushed it back with the others with my razor. "Fuck," I whispered to myself as I started chopping the lines again. A rock star line for him and a rock star line for me, that was the deal, we were going to share it fifty, fifty.

"Fuck it." I screamed, throwing the razor on the table when the lines were straightened out. "Mike, pick your line, so you know I didn't jizz you."

He crawled to the coffee table and examined the lines. I kept an eye on him as I reached into my pocket for a tampon. He was examining the lengths as I unwrapped it. "Hurry up! I don't have all fucking day," I ushered him.

He pointed the one closes to him. I nodded and pulled out the tube that pushes the cotton into the vagina. My hands were still shaking.

"What is that for?" He asked. I looked at him, this was the first time he snorted coke with me. He had a lot to learn.

"You're using this to snort it." I said stuffing the plastic tube up his nose. He pulled it out and stared at it, disgusted. "Don't worry I haven't used it and I don't plan onto now that it's been up your nose."

"Why don't we just use money?" He asked still staring at the plastic tampon inserter.

"One. I don't have any money. Two. It's easier because the coke doesn't get stuck in cracks like it does when you use bills. Now snort up your line or else I'm snorting it up for you."

He sighed before leaning down, the end of the tube stuck up his nose. I laughed to myself; it was always funny watching guys stick tampons up their nose while snorting coke.

Mike inhaled, I could see the coke fly into the tube up his nose he cleaned the line in one try. He pulled the tube out of his nose and sniffed loudly.

"Lift up your head." I told him. I looked up his nose to see if there was still any left in his nostrils, they have a tendency to hide in people's nose hairs. I leaned over the coffee table and put my fingers on the bridge of his nose. "When I push up I want you to sniff hard." He nodded. I pushed up he started to sniff, I could see his body jerk as his eyes widened.

"Fuck." He screamed.

I smiled as I pulled my fingers from his nose. I licked my finger and ran it over the line that he just snort picking up little pieces of the coke. He looked at me. "Open your mouth." He did and I stuck my finger in his mouth, moving it over his gums and tongue. He jerked his head back. Mike wasn't new to coke; he's just never done it right. I was taught by the best so I knew what I was doing.

"Where did you learn all of this?" He asked, shaking from the adrenaline rush.

I smiled. "Years of practice." I said as I leaned over my line, my tampon in my right nostril pushed on my left nostril and started to sniff hard, the coke flew into my nose and my body jerked from the contact. I finished the line and threw my head back sniffing hard. I pushed the bridge up my nose up and sniffed again. My shoulders jerked up as the coke invaded my blood stream. I ran my finger across the table where my line used to be and stuck it in my mouth. The numbness hit instantly. I bit my tongue and looked at Mike. "I fucking love coke."

He laughed and I followed along.

"Fabulous Edward, fabulous." Professor Higgins congratulated me, again. He patted my shoulder. "Where do you get your inspiration?"

I shrugged and stared back at the painting. It wasn't one of my favourites; in fact it was my least favourite. If I had my choice it would be burned at the stake. It was just a painting of the hotel I was staying at, nothing unique or significant about it, but people all over the world were praising thousands of dollars to hang it up in their living rooms. I was thinking about placing money on it just to burn it.

2

"Fuck." He screamed.

I smiled as I pulled my fingers from his nose. I licked my finger and ran it over the line that he just snort picking up little pieces of the coke. He looked at me. "Open your mouth." He did and I stuck my finger in his mouth, moving it over his gums and tongue. He jerked his head back. Mike wasn't new to coke; he's just never done it right. I was taught by the best so I knew what I was doing.

"Where did you learn all of this?" He asked, shaking from the adrenaline rush.

I smiled. "Years of practice." I said as I leaned over my line, my tampon in my right nostril pushed on my left nostril and started to sniff hard, the coke flew into my nose and my body jerked from the contact. I finished the line and threw my head back sniffing hard. I pushed the bridge up my nose up and sniffed again. My shoulders jerked up as the coke invaded my blood stream. I ran my finger across the table where my line used to be and stuck it in my mouth. The numbness hit instantly. I bit my tongue and looked at Mike. "I fucking love coke."

He laughed and I followed along.

"Fabulous Edward, fabulous." Professor Higgins congratulated me, again. He patted my shoulder. "Where do you get your inspiration?"

I shrugged and stared back at the painting. It wasn't one of my favourites; in fact it was my least favourite. If I had my choice it would be burned at the stake. It was just a painting of the hotel I was staying at, nothing unique or significant about it, but people all over the world were praising thousands of dollars to hang it up in their living rooms. I was thinking about placing money on it just to burn it.

"Thanks, Professor Higgins." I smiled at him, realizing that a shrug was rude. "A lot of things inspire me; it's not fair to only point out one." He laughed and patted my shoulder again, before taking two glasses of champagne, handing one to me.

"That's my boy." He smiled, clinging his glass with mine and taking a big gulp. I followed his lead, holding my lips shut, I was never much of a drinker, the taste of alcohol made me sick, but I pretended to drink the carbonated liquor to please one of my favourite clients. "Carlisle, you have a special boy on your hands," he yelled out to my adoptive father when he was done. I turned around to see Carlisle wrap his arm around me.

"I know," Carlisle smiled giving me a tight hug. I smiled at him before politely excusing myself from their company. I dropped the champagne glass on a table and weaved my way through the crowd. Smiling and thanking random guests for coming. I walked out of the front door when I was sure no one was paying attention. I needed some fresh air.

I stood outside the art studio, a small smile crossing my lips. Mike kicked me out of his apartment. His girlfriend was coming home soon. She didn't know about the drugs, so I was never allowed over there when she was around. It used to bother me, but not anymore. No one likes a drug addict, we lie, steal, cheat- anything to get our fix. A lot of people think we're stupid, we're not stupid, we know what we're doing, and we take advantage of everyone that we can, that's our job. I'm not proud of what I am. Before I started drugs, I had family, friends, and a place to stay. But that all went away the first time I smoked meth.

I was coming off the coke. That always made me feel like shit. I ran my hand through my hair. The only problem with coke is it never lasts long enough, you get the greatest skitz of your life and within the hour, you're coming down faster than an airplane on 9-11.

The door opened. I jumped and looked to see who was coming out. A tall bronze haired man walked out, he smiled at me before looking at the ground. I smiled back and blushed as I reached in my pocket for a cigarette, trying to distract myself. I pulled out a Camel Frost and was about to light it when I realized that my lighter was at Mike's house. I cussed softly to myself, before turning to the man that was walking past me.

"By any chance do you have a light?" I asked.

He stopped in mid step and looked at me. "You know that smoking is bad for you, right?"

I rolled my eyes; I didn't bother to respond with a comment. You always had one good law abiding citizen that had to put their two cents into your life. I shook my head and walked off.

"Wait." he called after me.

I turned around to see him pull out a lighter; it was one of those lighters that you get at Spencers, the one that can be used more than once as long as you had lighter fluid. I smiled at him as he lit my cigarette for me; I took a drag, letting the tar fill my lungs.

I pulled the cigarette away from the flame and pulled it out of my mouth, letting out the smoke from my lungs. My body started to relax. "Thanks," I continued to smile. I leaned up against the wall; he followed my lead standing next to me. I stared at him through the corner of my eye. "Why do you carry around a lighter if you don't smoke?" I asked. I wasn't a big fan of awkward silences.

He shrugged. "In case anyone asks for a lighter. You meet a lot of interesting people that way." He shot a glance towards me. I rolled my eyes as I shook my head.

"Do you always give the 'you know it's bad for you' speech before you give someone a lighter?" I asked, taking another drag out of my cigarette.

He shrugged. "Depends on the person."

"I guess I'm lucky." I mumbled as I let out the smoke.

"You know what's ironic?" he asked, staring at the steet in front of him. He was smiling to himself. I and shook my head. "I came out here for fresh air," he laughed as he looked back at me.

I laughed along with him. It wasn't that funny and if anyone else told me that I would have said something smart, but he was really cute. "Nice." I mumbled. He chuckled before sliding to the ground. I did the same, stretching my legs out in front of me. "So, you a big fan of art?" I decided to further the conversation. He shrugged. "You like shrugging don't you?"

He blushed. "Habit, I never talked much during high school, so I shrugged a lot. I try not to do it as much because it's rude, but it's hard to break a habit sometimes."

I nodded, looking at my cigarette. I could understand having a hard time breaking a bad habit.

"Besides you can tell a lot from a person by how they react to a shrug."

I laughed. "How? You've caught my interest."

"Like take you for example, you don't take a shrug for an answer, that means you're head strong and determined. As for people who do take shrugs for an answer, they're usually laid back and go with the flow," he explained I smiled slightly to myself.

"That was actually kind of clever," I nodded. "But you never answered my question."

He laughed. "Yes, I am into art."

"See? Was that so difficult?" I teased. "All of that for a four word sentence."

He rolled his eyes. I finished off the rest of my cigarette before pulling myself to my feet. He got to his feet shortly after I did. Standing next to him I felt like a Smurf. He was at least six feet tall. "Are you a fan of art?" he asked, brushing off the imaginary dirt off his black slacks.

I shrugged, realizing what I did, we both laughed. "I am a big fan of art; I just suck at drawing. An untrained monkey could draw better than me."

He smiled. "Would you like to join me then?"

I stared at him through squinted eyes. "This isn't going to be one of those moments where I'll wake up in the morning strapped to the bed naked, is it?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"Can it be?" I joked, smiling.

He laughed as he led me to the art studio. I was the kind of person that trusted everyone they met. When I was little, I almost got in a car with a group of strange men because they told me they were looking for their lost dog. They were about to drive off when a police officer pulled me out and asked if I knew the men. I shook my head and started crying, thinking that _I_ was the one in trouble.

"What about this one?" I asked her. She was the most interesting women to ever cross this Earth. I stared at her as her eyebrows squinted together, she tightened her lips. Her facial expressions were adorable.

"It's just a painting of a hotel room. What's so great about this? I can see a copy of something like this in _any_ fancy bathroom." She turned to me as she spoke.

Most artists would be offended by her remarks, but I thought they were amazing and unique. I laughed as she looked around the room at the other paintings. I had to agree with her, this was not one of my favourite paintings, either.

"I love your opinions," I said as she looked at it again.

She smiled and turned to me, she had the most beautiful brown eyes. "Thanks, most people think they're silly, and uneducated."

I shook my head. "Silly, maybe, but definitely not uneducated."

She went back to staring at the paintings. She kept her hands behind her back. She reminded me of a five year old on a trip to an art museum. I fought the urge to go hold her hand so she would have a buddy. I looked around the studio, Emmett, my adoptive brother, was winking at me lifting his champagne glass in the air. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. He laughed, which I could have sworn made the chandelier shake.

She turned to me. "Did he just wink at you?"

I nodded. Her eyes widened in surprise, realization hit me. "It's not like that!" I added quickly.

She giggled. "Sure it isn't." Her voice was laced with sarcasm.

"It's not," I said again, feeling embarrassed. "He's my adoptive brother, who has an imagination that likes to run with him." I shot him a glare, he laughed again.

She smiled and shook her head. "Your personal lifestyle is just that, yours."

I rolled my eyes. She was making fun of me. She stopped in front of a painting, her eyes widened. I smiled, this one was my favourite. She kept her hands behind her back as she gawked at it. I leaned close to her. "You like it?" I whispered I was afraid if I spoke too loud I would frighten her.

She nodded. "It's beautiful," she gaped.

"It's a painting of my mother, before she died. It's one of my favourites." She turned around so fast that she almost ran into me. Her eyes were still wide with amazement.

"Your mother?" She asked.

I nodded.

"You're Edward Cullen?" She almost screamed.

I nodded. "The one and only," I smirked.

Her face turned red and her jaw dropped. "You got to be shitting me!"

I laughed. "Now that you know who I am, who are you?" I asked, I forgot to ask her name earlier and I was wondering about it all night. I felt that this was the perfect time to ask, so I didn't have to nickname her 'that girl.'

"Bella, Bella Swan." She handed me her hand.

I smiled and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Bella Swan."

I spent the night with Edward Cullen. Part of me was thinking that I was having an acid flashback, the other part didn't fucking care it was Edward Cullen. He was a child prodigy, to say the least. I don't know the story of his life. I just knew that he was well known and could play the piano just as well as he could paint.

People stared at us, but most of them kept their distance. I knew that they probably didn't want to talk to me. I didn't look so great today. My hair was dirty, my clothes smelled funny, and I had bruises running on the side of my neck. Word of advice, never call your drug dealer a crack smoking monkey. They don't seem to like that too much.

He led me outside as everyone evacuated the building. He pulled out his cell phone; I stared at the silver razor, jealousy piercing through my veins. "It's getting late…" he trailed off.

I nodded knowing that the tour ends here. "Thanks for the tour. It was really nice meeting you."

I threw my hood over my head and started to walk off, not wanting to waste anymore time. "Wait!" He called after me.

I turned around to look at him. "Yeah?" I asked, scared that he realized that I stole his lighter out of his pocket when he wasn't looking.

"It's dangerous to walk out here alone. Do you want a ride?" He asked.

I sighed in relief. I didn't want to give back the lighter, it was too cool.

I shook my head. "No thanks, I'm not sure where I'm staying tonight anyways." Like I said, we're not stupid. We know how to play the pity act. I had him wrapped around my finger, now all he had to do was take the bait and I had a place to stay for the night. Though, I wasn't sure what the consequences would be. People aren't so generous these days.

I started to turn when he yelled at me to stop; I smiled to myself before turning around to look at him, again. He sighed. "Do you want to stay with me tonight?" he asked.

I nodded slowly; years of practice made me the queen at this game. "If it's ok with you…" I trailed off.

"It's not a problem." He smiled. My heart jumped into my throat. No trashcan fire for me tonight, and I still had a line of coke that I stole from Mike in bra. The night was looking up.

**End Chapter.**

Remember that our family reads the reviews, so please keep them clean. :)

Jo

BTW: If you apart of , head over to the "all human" section. Cigarette Burns has its own thread.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** **Vote for Cloud Nine and Smile for Me!** Links on my profile! :) Okay, so most of y'all were wrong, totally off. But that's okay. It makes it more fun for me. I just want y'all to know that I was foreshadowing this so when it does get revealed you don't jump down my throat. Thank you for the amazing reviews, even though I didn't get to 1500 (it was a long shot) but I got close! Also, I'm in creative writing. So the people that are screaming at me that I don't write enough- I have to write a short story almost every other day. And my short stories range from ten to fifteen pages. So don't tell me that I don't write enough. I write every day. I write more than I sleep.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Twilight_.

"I'm the only man in the world with a marriage license made out 'To Whom It May Concern'."  
>-Mickey Rooney<p>

**I Should Be Worried about the Yellow Stains on the Walls**

When I was little, I used to dream about what the house that I would live in with my husband would look like. The walls would be lavender, the carpet would be a light pink, there would only be natural lighting that came from the windows and the sun roofs scattered randomly throughout the house. And at night we would light candles and watch the stars together as we talked about our feelings.

Edward's apartment was nothing like my dream house. It was bigger than my old apartment but there were no sun roofs, lavender walls, or pink carpet. There was a weird grey shaggy carpet that spread through the whole apartment, the walls were an off white color, and the roof was falling apart…we were on the first floor.

I set the box of clothes that I got from Emmett's jeep on the coffee table and stared at the room. "This looks cozy." It wasn't a lie. It was small and looked like a great place to cuddle with someone you love… if the roof doesn't cave in first.

"Sorry." Edward apologized. "I haven't had much time to go apartment hunting." It was obvious that he was embarrassed by his beat down apartment. I liked it though, the carpet may look bad and there may have been weird yellow stains scattered on the walls but it was home.

"I like it." I tried to sound optimistic as I looked around the apartment for Jake. I found him sniffing the couch. I took several steps to the white couch, keeping an eye on Edward so he doesn't suspect something. He was walking to the kitchen that was connected to the living room.

"Don't even think about it." I snapped at Jake when he lifted his hind leg up. He frowned at me before bringing it back down and walking across the apartment to sulk into the corner. He sat and stared at me, his head turned to the side. "I got my eyes on you." I growled at him as I pointed at my eyeballs and then at him. Jake smiled at me.

"Is Jake house trained?" Edward asked from the kitchen.

"Yes." I yelled at him but I was looking at Jake. My eyes narrowed on him. He just smiled at me. "You _are_ house trained." I reminded him.

"Would like something to drink Bella?" Edward asked.

"I'm okay!" I yelled at him, still not taking my eyes off of Jake. Jake started to wag his tail at me. I didn't trust him. Jake was smart. He knew how to work around things and if I let him out of my sights, for a second, he would probably wiz on the couch.

I whistled as I patted my leg. "C'mon Jake, let's get you something to drink." Jake got onto his feet and started to follow after me. Not before stopping in front of Edward's couch. He was wagging his tail and smiling at me as his attention turned from me back to the couch. "If you even think about it, I will make you sleep outside." I warned Jake before I grabbed the skin on his neck and made him follow me into the kitchen.

The kitchen was a normal size kitchen for an apartment. The floor was this really ugly yellow tile and the fridge was the same off white as the walls but there were no yellow stains on it, so that was automatically a big plus.

"Do you have a bowl or some sort of container that I can use so Jake can drink some water?" I asked Edward.

He nodded once before grabbing the handle to a cupboard and pulling on it. The cupboard was filled with Glad containers. He grabbed a bowl and started to fill it up with water.

"Here you go Jake." He was hesitant about setting the bowl in front of him.

Jake stared at Edward and then at the bowl filled with water in front of him. He sniffed the bowl, while still keeping his eyes on Edward, he finally decided that it was safe and started to drink.

"Thanks Edward." I smiled at him.

"No problem." He looked back at me and smiled. "You know what. Jake's not a bad dog and I guess I could get use to the idea of him living with me."

Edward opened the right door to his fridge and pulled out a package of hot dogs. My eyes widened and I grabbed the package of hot dogs from him and threw it back into the fridge. He raised an eyebrow and frowned at me.

"What was that-"

"Jake doesn't like hot dogs." I whispered. "It makes him feel uncomfortable, like he's a cannibal. Don't let him know that you have them." I opened the fridge and looked around for something else that was Jake friendly. There was a package of sliced American cheese. I grabbed a slice and handed it to Edward. "Give this to him instead. He may get a little gassy but it won't hurt his feelings."

"Yeah," Edward rolled his eyes, "because we don't want to hurt Jake's feelings." His voice was laced with sarcasm.

He squatted as he unwrapped the slice of cheese. "Come here Jake." He patted his leg lightly. "Come here you big, scary horse wannabe."

I rolled my eyes and squatted next to him. Jake was staring at him as he continued to lick the water out of the container. Edward folded the slice of cheese in half and held it out for him. Jake stopped licking the water and narrowed his eyes in on the slice of cheese. Edward took advantage of this opportunity and took two small steps towards him.

"C'mon Jake." He continued to coo him. "You know you want the slice of cheese."

Jake kept his head down as he walked to Edward. His eyes didn't leave the slice of cheese. I had never seen him cautious about accepting a slice of cheese, or really any food, before. It was weird. I didn't know why Jake felt so threatened by Edward. It wasn't like he had done anything to hurt him or me. In fact, he'd actually helped us. He was giving us a place to stay, food, and a steady income. There was nothing bad about this situation.

Jake took the cheese from Edward and started to eat it.

"See," Edward held out his hands, "I'm not that bad of a guy. I gave you food."

He reached out to pat Jake on the head. Jake stopped eating and growled at him. Edward pulled his hand back and sighed. I rolled my eyes and pulled myself to my feet. It was going to take time for Jake and Edward to get a long but I had a feeling that before too long, they would be best friends.

"Are you hungry?" Edward asked.

I looked at him and nodded. "A little," I admitted, "I haven't had anything to eat since this morning."

"That's not healthy." Edward frowned at me.

"Are you always a doctor?" I asked him, playfully.

"Sorry," Edward blushed, "its habit. I tell that to patients all day and it kind of stuck with me."

"At least you're dedicated." I smiled at him. "So what's for dinner?" I decided to change the subject.

"I would say hot dogs but that seems to be out of the question," we both looked at Jake- he was licking the floor, "so how about pancakes?"

I laughed. "Pancakes sound great."

"So how was your day?" I asked Edward cutting up my syrup soaked pancake. "Did you save any lives?"

We were sitting on the couch listening to the TV while we ate our pancakes that Edward made. He was a great cook. I would not be surprised if he suddenly decided to stop being a doctor and decided to go to culinary school instead. In fact, I would encourage this decision because Edward was that good.

"It was good. No one died on me today, which was nice." He took a sip of his milk. "What about you?" He asked cutting another piece of his pancake. "Did you have a good day at work?"

"It was boring." I stabbed my fork into a piece of my pancakes. "I called Charlie today."

Edward dropped his fork, which made me look at him. His jaw had dropped and he was staring at me with dilated pupils. "What did he say?" He finally asked. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him the truth." I answered. "About how we met at the Lizard Lounge and how_ I_ asked _you_ to marry me. And then I told him that we weren't getting a divorce because you don't want to disappoint your mom. Of course, that turned into an argument about how I was afraid that I'd turn into my mom and try to leave you."

Edward furrowed his eyebrows. "Your mom left you?" He asked.

"No." I shook my head. "She left my dad. She freaked out on my dad and decided to take me with her to Phoenix, where I lived until I was seventeen and decided to live with my dad."

"Why did you want to live with your dad?" Edward frowned at me.

I sighed. "Renee, my mom, got married and I decided that she and Phi, my step dad, needed time to be a married couple."

Edward smiled. "That was really considerate of you Bella."

I shrugged. "I guess you could say that."

"No," Edward shook his head, "it really is. You're aware of people's feelings, which is rare. You're a lot different than I thought you'd be."

My face dropped and I blinked. "What did you think I was like?"

Edward was quiet. "Do you really want to know?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think I do." I put my almost empty plate on the coffee table and crossed my legs under me on the couch. "What did you think of me before you actually met me?"

"Before you woke up, I assumed that you would be a whiny, spoiled, party type girl that didn't care about anyone but herself." Edward didn't look at me as he admitted this. "But obviously, I was wrong." He finally looked at me. "I'm sorry?" He made it a question.

"Don't be sorry." I smiled at him. "I can't say that I was much better. I was just happy you were cute."

Edward laughed. I blushed and stared at hands on my lap. I would never get over how easy it is for me to like Edward. He was like the best friend I'd always needed, except instead of being my friend, he was my husband. A sweet, loving, funny, caring, husband that was painfully honest.

"I'm glad we're going to make this work out." Edward smiled at me as he put his dish on the coffee table and grabbed my hand. "I have a question."

I nodded, signaling for him to ask away.

"Would you get angry," his voice got soft and he leaned in closer to me, "if I kissed you?"

"I don't know if I'm a good kisser." I admitted, blushing.

Edward chuckled. His breath grazed my lips and went into my nose. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. His breath smelled like maple syrup, which was surprisingly very sensual right now.

I let him close the distance between us. His lips pressed against mine softly. I didn't do anything. I was waiting for him to take control. Edward's hand left mine and he grabbed my cheek. I shivered. His hand was unbelievably cold. His middle finger pressed against my cheek bone and I moved my head to the side. Edward twisted his head to the other side and opened his mouth so he could let his tongue graze my bottom lip.

I blushed and pushed my face closer to his, opening my mouth. Edward used his other hand to push on my shoulder. My back fell onto the couch and I wrapped my arms around his neck. Edward's tongue found its way into my mouth.

This is when Jacob started barking. His loud barks started to turn into threatening growls and snaps. Normally, I would be worried about this but I was still riding the high of kissing Edward.

He pulled away from me. Both of our breaths were pants and we were staring at each other. He smiled at me as he leaned down and kissed my nose, which got another growl from Jake.

I turned my head to the side and stared at my dog. His head was bowed and his lips were curled over his gums. I turned back to Edward and mouth the words 'I'm sorry.'

He laughed. "I'm actually surprised he let me take it this far." He pulled himself off of me and went to sit on the other side of the couch.

"I am too." I admitted, not moving- I was still dazed by Edward's kissing skills. "He hardly ever lets you near me."

"I figured out why." Edward groaned.

I frowned as I pulled myself up so I was sitting on the couch instead of lying on it. Edward held up his plate that was once filled with bacon and pancakes. It was empty. There wasn't even a trail of syrup left.

"I hoped you liked it." He told Jake, who was still glaring at him. "I know I did."

I giggled and gave him an apologizing look. "I am so sorry. You can't leave food around or he'll eat it."

"I realize that now." Edward sounded aggravated.

"I'm really sorry." I frowned at him. "But he's a dog. Don't all dogs eat everything in sight?"

"I wouldn't know." Edward shrugged, setting his empty plate on the table. "I don't like dogs."

"I know." My face dropped even more. "This must be difficult for you."

Edward shrugged. "It's weird. But I'm sure I'll get used to it."

"Dogs aren't that bad." I tried to convince him. "They're man's best friend."

Edward looked at me. "I'm still a cat person."

I smiled at him as I tried to hide a yawn. But it was one of those yawns that you couldn't hide. My arms reached above my head and I opened my mouth as I let out a huge, long yawn. I was tired and a little sore. I really wanted to go to bed. Actually, I wanted to kiss Edward again but if that wasn't an option, the bed looked like a cozy second.

"Are you tried?" Edward frowned at me.

I looked at him and nodded. "Just a little." I admitted. "I can stay up though."

"No," Edward shook his head, "that's okay. I'm a little tired too." He got up from the couch and grabbed the dirty dishes. "I'll put up the dishes up and you can hang out in my room. I only have one room, if that's a problem- I can sleep on the couch and you can-"

"Didn't we already have this conversation?" I interrupted him. "Besides, we're married."

"We are married, aren't we?" Edward asked.

I nodded. "Still sounds weird, doesn't it?" I asked.

"Just a little." He smiled.

"So where's your room?" I asked getting off the couch.

"Down the hall," Edward pointed to the hallway, "it's the first door on the right."

"Do you mind if I take a shower?" I asked.

"Nope," he shook his head, "it's on the left across from my room."

"Thanks." I smiled at him as I grabbed the box of clothes that was now on the floor. It took all my strength not to tip over. I had way too much clothes.

"Do you need some help?" Edward frowned.

"No," I shook my head, "I got it." I was lying through my teeth. I didn't know why it was so heavy. It didn't bother me earlier but now I felt like I was carrying hundred pound weights. My legs were shaking and I was having a hard time standing up. I decided to blame it on being tired. I often got weak when I was tired.

I walked awkwardly down the hall with the box of clothes securely in my arms. Jake followed after me. I was actually kind of grateful he was behind me. I was afraid to leave him alone with Edward. I didn't trust Jake not to do something that will annoy Edward enough to kick us out.

I flipped the light switch on in Edward's room and my jaw dropped.

"Whoa, that's an awesome bed." I didn't realize I had said something until my voice echoed through my ears. Everything in his apartment looked like it was left behind by the people before him, except for Edward's room. Edward's room was filled with a huge bed that looked like it once belonged to some famous Victorian king or queen.

The frame was a black metal and had four poles reaching for the ceiling. The bed was covered with a white comforter that was filled with feathers. The white stood out against the black frame and the off white walls. It actually hurt my eyes. Edward's apartment was so dark and depressing and to have the white, actually white, sheets come out of nowhere; it was just too much brightness at one time.

I kicked the door closed with the heel of my foot and started to wobble to the bed. The box hadn't gotten lighter, in fact, it had somehow gotten heavier. Jake jumped onto the bed, the same moment I dropped the box onto it.

"That was heavy." I gasped at him as I rubbed my sore muscles. He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at me, his cocked to the side. "I'm fine." I promised him patting his head. "I'm just a little tired, that's all. You would be too if you had to scoop out ice cream all day."

Jake didn't say anything. He just continued to stare at me with his head cocked to the side. I sighed and chose to ignore him. He was just overreacting. Like most dogs do.

I opened up the box and dug through it as I looked for my pajama pants and a shirt that I could wear with it. Normally, I would just wear a shirt and panties but I didn't want to make Edward feel uncomfortable so I sucked it up and changed into a pair of blue plaid pajama pants and a baby blue spaghetti strap shirt.

I dropped the box on the floor and looked at Jake. He was sitting on Edward's bed with a huge smile on his face. "Don't even think about it." I warned, glaring at him. "I," I pointed at my chest, "_I_ will kick you out."

Jake just wagged his tail and smiled at me.

I walked across the hall to the bathroom. I had never seen carpet in a bathroom before so it was weird walking into the bathroom and seeing the same shaggy grey carpet that was in the rest of Edward's apartment. The bathroom was small. There was a bathtub/shower, toilet, sink, and a mirror. There was also a little countertop that held the sink but it was so short that it didn't really stand out.

I put my clean clothes on the countertop and climbed out of my work clothes. I couldn't wait to take a shower. I was so excited. I pulled the see-through curtain away from the tub and stepped in. I manipulated the faucets till the water was a satisfactory warm temperature. The water beat down on my sore muscles and stiff bones. It was great.

I washed my body and hair and tried to make myself squeaky clean. I loved showers, after smelling like bar for a few days, I had never been so happy for a shower. I was on the verge of tears because I was so happy.

When I had cleaned myself enough that if I rubbed my two pieces of skin together they started to squeak, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a baby blue towel that was lying across a handle attached to the wall around my body. I didn't waist anytime getting dressed. I had left Jake in Edward's room. There is no telling what that dog would do without me there to stop him.

I opened the door and jumped across the hallway into Edward's room. The sound of dishes being washed was coming from the kitchen, which made me feel a little bit more comfortable, that meant that I had time to clean whatever mess Jake might have left in Edward's room.

I closed the door with my foot and looked around Edward's room. He had a lot of CD that was stacked nicely against the wall, untouched, the floor was clean, minus a few stray dirty clothes that didn't make it to the dirty clothes hamper, and it smelled pretty decently. I looked at the bed; Jake was lying across it, his body stretched out so he was taking up all the space. Light snores were coming from his nose.

I sighed and put my hand on my beating heart. I thought Jake had torn up Edward's room. I was grateful to know that he had just fallen asleep on Edward's bed.

"You scared the heck out of me." I growled at him. He opened an eye and then stretched his legs before going back to sleep. The light snores getting louder. I sat at the end of Edward's bed and started to rub his ears. He let out another loud snore. "You know you're going to have to sleep on the floor, right?" He pretended not to hear me and moved his head out my hands before rolling onto his back and stretched out his legs.

I rolled my eyes and started to rub his stomach.

"Are you decent?" Edward asked through the wooden door.

"Yeah," I yelled at him, "I'm decent."

I grabbed onto Jake and tried to pull him off the bed. He didn't move. "C'mon Jake." I growled at him as I put my foot on the bed frame and started to pull. Jake just stared at me like I was a two year old that would go away if he ignored me long enough. "You can't sleep on the bed."

The door opened and Edward walked in. I started to get more desperate in my attempts to get Jake off Edward's bed. He wouldn't budge. "C'mon Jake." I screamed at him. "Get off Edward's bed." Jake used to sleep with me on my bed when we lived in my apartment but he also slept on the floor a lot. So it wasn't like it was a big step for him.

"Sorry," I didn't look at Edward. "I'll get him off." I started to pull on Jake again.

"You were lying." Edward's breath grazed my neck. My body stiffened and I stopped pulling on Jake. "You're absurd to think for a minute that you could possibly look decent in those clothes." His hands wrapped around my waist and his teeth grabbed the bottom of my ear.

A huge blush was on my face and the only thing that I could think about was Edward's hands on my waist and his teeth nibbling on my earlobe. "I look like a blue pixie stick." I finally admitted.

Edward laughed. His lips left my ear and he started to brush them against my neck. "I like pixie sticks…and blue is my favorite color."

I started to giggle. "Really?" I asked looking at him.

"Really." Edward chuckled. A huge grin formed across his face.

Edward twisted his head to the side and I closed my eyes. His lips brushed against mine and I pushed my lips closer to his. His hand left my waist and he held my cheek. I waited for him to press my cheek, telling me to move my head, but he didn't. He pulled away and turned toward his bed.

"If you get off my bed I'll stop kissing her."He told whatever he was staring at. I turned to what he was looking. Jake, who I had forgotten about, was lying on his stomach, growling at Edward.

I rolled my eyes and was about to step away from Edward but he tightened his grip on my waist and pushed me towards his chest. His eyes didn't leave Jacob.

"I'll kiss her again." He warned.

Jacob got onto his feet and jumped off the bed. His eyes didn't leave Edward as he sulked into a corner. Edward turned towards me, a huge smile across his perfect face.

"I got him off the bed." He boasted.

I shook my head and stepped out of his grip and walked to my side of the bed. "I could've gotten him off the bed. You just didn't give me a chance." I pulled the covers to his bed and crawled into it. It was like lying on clouds.

"You had me convinced." Edward smiled at me before taking off his shirt and pulling down his pants. I looked the other way as he crawled into bed with me. I knew that he liked to sleep in his boxers but it still made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

"You're not going to take a shower?" I asked when he had covered himself in the comforter.

Edward shook his head. "No, I took one at the hospital."

My jaw dropped. "You're kidding?" I asked. He shook his head. "I hate you." I rolled over so I wasn't looking at him. I was trying to be playful. I think it worked because Edward laughed and wrapped his arms around my waist. His nose was buried into the side of my neck.

"Are you jealous?" He asked.

I turned toward him and nodded. "Yes! You got to take a shower. I had to scoop out ice cream and explain to Charlie why we couldn't get a divorce, while you were taking a shower. That is not fair."

Edward kissed my cheek. "You're so cute when you're jealous." His breath brushed against my neck, making every hair on my body stand up.

Jake started to growl. Edward pulled his head away from me but didn't remove his hands from my waist.

"I haven't even kissed her yet." Edward yelled at him.

Jake started to bark. Edward pulled his hands away from my waist and scooted over so we weren't as close; he made sure to keep his hands in the air.

"Happy now?" He asked for Jake's approval.

Jake didn't say anything.

I raised an eyebrow at Edward. He was acting like Jake was a police officer or something.

"I feel like your dad is watching us," Edward admitted, "except in a dog's body. It's kind of eerie."

I giggled. "I'm really sorry about Jake. But you're being really sweet about this." I smiled at him.

He shrugged. "It's the least I can do." He seemed hesitant about saying something. "I really want to turn off the light but I'm afraid that Jake might bite my leg off if I leave the bed."

I started to laugh. "I'll get the light then." I crawled out of bed and walked across the room to turn off the light. Then I walked awkwardly back towards the bed. It was weird walking in the dark in an unfamiliar room. But I was able to find the bed without too hurting myself.

I crawled back into the sheets and snuggled into my pillow.

"Goodnight Edward." I whispered sleepily. "Goodnight Jake."

"Goodnight Bella." Edward replied. "Goodnight…dog."

I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. Edward was being sweet about not kicking Jake out, so I let him get away with calling Jake a dog.

I was on the verge of falling asleep when a weird smell caught my attention. My nose scrunched up and I threw my hands over my nostrils. "Ew!" I screamed. "Jake that is disgusting." I was tempted to throw my pillow at him.

"I knew I should've given him that dog a hot dog." Edward voiced his distaste about Jake's silent, but deadly, fart.

There was a low snort that was coming from the corner of the room where Jake was. I think Jake was laughing at us…

**End Chapter.**

**A/N:** So, a couple of things to talk about. Jake isn't going anywhere. Don't tell me to write him out of my story. I won't. He's there for comic relief, that's all. You can hate him as much as you want but he's not going _anywhere_. Second, I don't think Edward and Bella moved too fast in this chapter. It's just kissing. They're married. They're also trying to make it work and it's not like they're having sex and telling each other that they're in love. Right now they're kind of just taking it one step at a time and I don't see anything wrong with kissing. As for the sex, that's going to take time. I'm not the type of person that can have my characters rush relationships (sorry) when I feel like they've known each other long enough to have sex, they'll have sex. You have to remember they just met! Married or not, they're not the type of people to rush into sex, that's how they ended up in this situation, remember? Last but not least. **Tell me your favorite Chuck Norris fact.** I love Chuck Norris facts and I want to hear your favorites. Mine is "Chuck Norris doesn't believe in evolution, he decides which animals live or die." So, send me a review, I would love you forever. Especially, since this is a long and fluffy chapter.


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